PHI206 Existentialism

Existentialism is a type of philosophical thinking and writing that originated in the works of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. It accepts that the world we live in offers no simple answers. In fact many existentialists believe the world is inherently irrational. The main task, then, of philosophy and of life is to face this absurdity of life and figure out my responsibility in life and my response to the irrationality of life. This course will study several philosophers who have been called existentialist, to understand their depiction of life's absurdity. Rather than being a specific school of philosophy, existentialists share the trait of a common reaction against more traditional ways of doing philosophy.